Is Rock Music Dead?

Is Rock Music DEAD? I mean as a worldwide MEGA genre. Is there a mainstream radio and touring movement that will ever be as big as it was with Grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or AIC) or the early 2000's bands (Linkin Park, System of a Down)?
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[@SavoirRare]

I'll never forget watching Tom Petty on Late Night with David Letterman in the late 90's. The first thing Dave asked him was "Is Rock Music Dead?", to which Tom immediately replied, "Oh, it's alive over at my house!"

[@emilgarcia9113]

That is sooo Tom! I read that in his voice. He had such a great sense of humor! I sure miss that guy.

[@TheNBSPerry]

Love Tom petty but that is not rock music

[@jc.1191]

Tom petty and Aerosmith kinda kept the classic rock alive through the 90's. I'm probably forgetting someone else.

[@jc.1191]

@@emilgarcia9113 Yeah, he even played Lucky on King of the Hill. Very talented guy.

[@denroy3]

@@TheNBSPerry lol. Sure pal.

[@ScottPigman]

We rock fans in 2017 are learning how Big Band fans must have felt in 1967.

[@An_Amazing_Login5036]

Oh its been a while since the concert halls was filled to hear Sibelius. 80-100 years of "death"? We're not going to gently go out into that cruel night, and you should'nt either.

[@gregoryswift9573]

True that another lost art. The amplification and fact the bands must become small to tour reasonably cheap killed the swing standard.

[@gregoryswift9573]

The Beatles did 32bar form songs very reminiscent of those in the early days

[@TokyoBlue587]

sad but true I think. I just finished reading Pete Townshend's autobiography, and his dad was a sax player in a big band playing swing music and jazz type stuff, and hated it when rock came along, seeing it put him out of work

[@seaburyneucollins688]

Man, thinking about that analogy, all that newer indie stuff is still rock just the same way that cool jazz or bebop were still jazz. But a swing fan knew that his genre was dying the same way as a rock fan knows that his genre is dying. We expect great stuff to still come along, but there's a "spirit" that's fading away. Popularity matters for the life of a genre.

[@balohna]

What was really weird in the mid 2000s/early 2010s was that there were tons of indie rock bands that tons of people I knew liked and listened to, that sold lots of concert tickets... but rock radio never played any of them. Ever. You would have thought there were like 10 new rock bands in existence if you only listened to rock radio. My local modern rock station was still playing 90s stuff more than anything. No idea what was going on behind the scenes. Here in Canada a lot of bands still got exposure through Much Music at the time, but rock radio would only pick up the bands if they actually started to get huge based on their success elsewhere. Arcade Fire finally showed up on the radio with their third album, despite having been critical darlings and touring extensively, and getting played on Much Music, for like 5+ years before that. For a lot of bands, it was basically all word of mouth and file sharing. And throughout this whole period certain rock listeners kept saying all new music sucked, despite lots of GREAT indie and punk stuff (and probably metal/prog/etc., but I was less tuned in) coming out of the underground and finding moderate success with 0 support from rock radio. You just had to do a bit of digging, because rock radio had no interest in promoting anything that wasn't already successful. Top 40, you could basically forget the idea of ever hearing a decent rock song. Even now, most of the best new bands I listen to are basically juuuuust successful enough to tour and release albums and make enough money to live.

[@fleshrags]

Car Seat Headrest is probably the first band in decades to have a known frontman (Will Toledo)

[@DonaldRickert]

I think Rock music is becoming a niche genre like jazz or blues.

[@1982pencil]

Not at all true. Lots of rock bands are enjoying platinum records since 2005, the year Rick declared that rock died.

[@jamesmiddleton8335]

I dont think we're there just yet

[@rjvanetten3123]

@@1982pencil who

[@rahsillyyoo]

It already has. Rock is where jazz was in the 80s you had some jazz hit records SOME

[@DonaldRickert]

@@rahsillyyoo I tend to agree. People who keep arguing that rock isn't a niche genre are holding on too tightly to the past.

[@nitemunky76]

I remember MTV in the early 90s. Constant rock music on repeat 24/7 - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains etc, etc. Good times.

[@anthonyherrera6667]

Green day was also huge on MTV

[@Itsnoahscott]

Bet

[@nylontusk1289]

Wish I were there as a teen or twentysomething. Unfortunately I was a toddler and little kid through the 90s

[@annne023]

Go to your local convenience store and see who's on the front cover of Guitar/Rock magazines. Chances are they'll always be older than 50.

[@Turk_2023]

that`s a good observation.... Maybe Kiko from Megadeth might make the cover....He`s under 50 I think....... Crazy thing is there are tons of no-name guitar players on youtube with thousands of subs.....Especially hot chics with cleavage

[@mainsmain]

the missing link just..just remember me okay buddy? ;(

[@agdtec]

When I was a teen in the late 70's I could look in a magazine called Illinois entertainer and see live bands at big bars and small venues any night of the week and have hundreds of choices on the weekends. It is a struggle to find live bands playing today. bars and small venues went from bands to djs and the public was still packing into the bars. The death of rock starts with the loss of interest to see live music period.

[@theaviary238]

agdtec i remember in my youth living in Chicago reading that every week. :-)

[@mitch8645]

Yup, just stick to playing in your homes now. People would rather hear themselves speak than listen to anything.

[@ProgRockNerd]

You might better speak of a loss of interest in *providing* live music. The public might rather hear live music, but they'll tolerate a DJ rather than not go out at all.

[@WhoWouldWantThisName]

I agree with ProgRockNerd that there is still a demand for live music of some sort. There's a lot less willingness to provide that though. It's just a difference in what "live music" means to those going to these places. While the younger crowd is not interested in a "band" it's really only because of what they are growing up on. The live aspect of it still has appeal. The local bars are unwilling to pay a band 5 times what it will cost to get a EDM DJ and that was back when people still wanted analog pop and even rock music live. Now of course, the largest demographic (21-25 year olds) don't care about music created by a band and still want to see a guy play a computer file over big speakers with a light show and some other visuals. That's their entertainment they call "live music". They still want to experience music in a big room with a bunch of strangers and enjoy it together as a sort of group activity. The understanding of music and what it is or where it comes from is very different now. We used to see the players create everything we heard directly live on that stage. The only way to experience that anymore is maybe a jam night, where the bar doesn't have to pay them, at the one bar in town that does that and it's still just 2 or 3 older guys with the same set list they know so it's almost a "house band", but at least it's "LIVE" and REAL. You won't find anyone under 50 in there and there's maybe 20 or so to turn out on a good night, and therein lies the reason for no bands booked anywhere anymore.

[@cptlou]

I saw the decline at the same time we lost Mtv to reality shows.

[@ButterCookie1984]

Good point

[@whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306]

MTV turned bands into a fashion show. Granted since the Beatles bands have certainly had an influence on fashion. That said, just because other styles of music have more popularity then rock in many markets does not mean it is dead. The kids are still digging on it and that keeps it alive as the OG's die off.

[@gabe2869]

A lot of the commenters on here seem to be missing the point. You could name good rock bands all you want, but Rick was pretty clear about this. Rock being dead has nothing to do with the quality of music made by new bands, it's about sales and airplay. A&R guys depended on local scenes for a long time as a source to find new bands to sign. Seattle was a hot bed in the late 80's/early 90's, just as LA was in the early 80's and New York was in the mid-late 70's and San Francisco was in the late 60's and London was in the early 60's and New York was (for jazz) in the 40's and New Orleans was (for jazz) in the 20's and Mississippi was (for blues) in the 30's and Chicago was (for blues) in the 50's, etc... One of the things that was an unintended consequence of these locals scenes was that bands came up around each other, rivaled with each other, befriended each other, and tended to share some stylistic similarities. Thats how's a local scene can become a national trend, e.g. Seattle and grunge or LA and hair metal. The internet destroyed that. Record sales went down the tubes forcing companies to stop signing bands. The world became a smaller place at this time. Bands could be signed from anywhere. Local scenes were no longer important. The need to move to a cultural hub no longer existed as long as you had a microphone and an internet connection. This also led to a more eclectic musical landscape. Formerly underground sub-genre's were able to grow in popularity which of course evens the playing field a little bit. OF COURSE there is still great rock music being made today, but there is also more competition for the consumers attention than ever before. The days of an organically grown scene which then sweeps the nation and the world and captures all music lovers attention are over. Rock IS dead. But who cares, if you like it, it's out there. Go listen to it.

[@RickBeato]

Exactly! Thanks

[@Roboprogs]

ARENA rock dead, then?

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

Then "rock as we knew it";) The same can be said about any genre then because record labels are becoming less relevant and the way we "consume" content has vastly changed. No music genre is dead as long as people listen to it and play it.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

The rock music business as it existed from roughly the 60s to the 90s is dead. It produced some great music (in the early years, at any rate), but the business itself was always pretty vile, and the music itself became bloated and vile (especially after the fake rebellion of the overrated punk movement). Maybe its collapse is a harbinger or early symptom of a wider collapse in the capitalist system, Western culture, or both.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

The power may now be in the hands of the artists, but it's now so widely diffused that - at the level of the solo performer or band - it doesn't amount to very much. I didn't like the old gatekeeper system either, which largely came in (as Frank Zappa noted) when the middle aged executives (who knew nothing about the music or the subcultures it sprang from) were replaced (some time in the early to mid 70s) by the "house hippies" who, contrary to expectation, were more narrowly focused on the bottom line than their predecessors (and consequently more risk averse).

[@wpleary2]

Really annoying Gibson guitars keep getting more and more expensive as rock dies...

[@johnnygoldendong235]

💯true.

[@Herehear49]

Trying to get their $$$ while the getting is still good.

[@briandaniels2126]

And they aren't built nearly as good as they once were.

[@vonmarko1363]

It’s not necessarily Gibson that’s the problem. It’s the investment group that bought Gibson that is responsible for what’s going on there. They don’t give two shits about guitars or music, it’s all about maximizing profits any way they can. And once they’ve squeezed every last drop of blood out of the Gibson brand, they will load the company down with debt until it can no longer afford to operate and kill it once and for all. It’s what happened to Toys R Us and Sears/Kmart.

[@nerdrock8087]

Thank you, Rick. I'm mostly a home body, so I don't get to have many conversations about rock music with actual musicians. Listening to you is really a treat.

[@cheeks6700]

"Bands like Nickelback did a pretty good job of killing rock music" - Rick Beato.

[@PrimalCircus]

I’d be interested to hear Rick talk about how he believes Nickelback killed rock music. They had a lot of fans. They were kind of a last attempt at resurrecting rock. I’m not a fan of Nickelback, but I believe that the enormous success they had/have is an indication that they are doing sometching right for their fans.

[@trboxster]

@@PrimalCircus He explained his reasoning in the video. They were part of what he calls the "No name bands" i.e. can you name the band members? Lead singer started at 10 and had no where to go, became repetitive.

[@dgallodgallo]

@Mark Lanzarotta so it was more of a mercy killing then - huh?

[@nuke2625]

~2017

[@Mephilis78]

Just stating the obvious.

[@tinyb4165]

Bigger question for your next rant. "Is today's music listener/consumer, dead?" Can anything keep people's attention for more than 30 seconds anymore? Has our evolution turned to de-evolution, and all we are able to absorb is a hook, and a quick jingle? And even more important, are we really that much in love with pumpkin spice lattes???

[@johnlarocque8373]

Bands need a way to become popular /profitable and marketable because you tube steals their royalties . Needs to be a device to jam unauthorized recordings at concerts recording studios , or any napster devices .you hit the nail on the head nastier screwed it up first then the whole super information highway just destroyed rock as it did many other things. Pc police should do better things than they're doing now . Do something great like "Make Rock n' Roll Great Again!" Sorry for the Trump reference but we need bold action because Rock n Roll is a national treasure that needs to be preserved.

[@scottray666]

Totally agree. People these days don't notice or care about anything but their damn cell phones and social media.Its rotting our brains people!

[@MasterCowsChaos]

Scott Ray are you being sarcastic? That sounds exactly, EXACTLY down to the wording, of what literally everyone says when new technologies take ahold of society. No more than 10 years ago people said the same thing you said about videogames, and before that TV, and before that movies, and before magazines, etc. etc.

[@BlunderCity]

@John Larocque The problem with your idea of banning stuff and protecting the industry is exactly the rear guard action the music industry tried and they failed miserably. The way forward is to find new ways to generate value, not clinging on to he ways of the past. The internet, KZbin, file sharing and downloading, all those technologies are there and cannot be "de-invented". They say the best defense is attack. Trying to preserve the past is weak defense, the attacking defense is to bank on innovation.

[@Shawn-hs8qk]

American audiences(I'm American) assume if they're listening to something, everybody worldwide is too.

[@JensHilzensauer]

well..that is definately a very American worldview :D

[@FlowtnWitWalden]

sadly it may be more accurate to say American audiences don't even consider the world outside of America

[@swissarmyknight4306]

To be fair, there was a time when America had the world's ear as far as music was concerned. The Blues, Jazz, R&B, Soul, Rock and Roll, and Hip Hop all came from the United States. I get why they might have had that assumption.

[@TheRadFactor]

Blues origins are from Africa. Jazz's roots are in African and Europe. Making something commercial does not change its origins.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

Well that's just factually false. African Americans are Americans; they are not Africans. True that there is certainly African influence in the Blues, but look at the instruments they are playing on. The guitar, piano, and harmonica are not native African instruments and the Blues was never played in Africa until it was imported from the US. The Blues and Jazz are both African American music, and African Americans only exist in the US. They are Americans, period. We had a civil war over it.

[@OrgChromer]

Rock is alive, but it is headed underground. And honestly, I think that's OK. Small club shows are so much more engaging than arena shows. Much less expensive, too. Live Nation and Ticketmaster don't need my money. Small bands do.

[@viralbuthow000]

Adrian Auchrome well said

[@pat5882]

Good! Now bands won’t consider selling out.

[@eltigre8978]

Very well said! I couldn't agree more. It's actually quite refreshing now. We are starting fresh again, like back when I first heard the Ramones and The Sex Pistols around 77-78 and I was a 13 year old kid. It was an exciting time. Bands like ELP and Pink Floyd and Yes other prog rock bands were kind of destroying rock & roll. They were intellectualizing it and it lost it's original sexual origins. Chuck Berry and Little Richard understood that sexual energy. Just my opinion.

[@shannonmcquade8529]

Yes! Gojira is coming here in October to a small venue and I love it!!!

[@spinnymathingy3149]

Rock hasn’t headed underground, it’s in Japan, give it a listen, even better than rock from the past 30 years from the US or UK or Europe or Australia

[@blasterofmuppets4754]

Metal is killing itself off with those stupid cookie monster vocals. Its so annoying and every new band seems to think that they have to do that.

[@kentl7228]

Learn from jazz. It was about 80% of the world market sales in the 1930's. Then musicians wanted to play more challenging things. But people wanted simple fun music, so jazz lost all it's popularity. Music sells well when girls want to dance to it and where the boys want to meet the girls.

[@alexk4020]

So true. Which is why Bon Jovi sold way more records than Joe Satriani.

[@vm3699]

Of all the comments . This is the one that makes sense

[@alexk4020]

@@iganpparamarta8813 I never said love songs. Furthermore, a quick google search reveals Bon Jovi has sold more records than Metallica. Regardless, find any party with a bunch of teenagers and play Enter Sandman, then play Livin' on a Prayer, and watch what happens.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

You really know your stuff Rick. I think rock will make a big comeback after the A.I. take over pop music (since it’s already so mechanical it won’t be hard) and the people want to fight back with a more “human” form of music. And yes I WAS just watch Black Mirror. Hehe!

[@williamcampbell7387]

So good to see you here. Three top lesson/info sites Art of Guitar, Beato, and Eric Haugen... Pebber Brown when I'm feeling masochistic.

[@remotegod255]

thanks for this tip, was subbed to Beato but just did the same for Art of Guitar and Eric Haugen... looking forward to watching

[@Cthulhu_Awaken]

The-Art-of-Guitar "What's up everyone it's Mike from The-Art-of-Guitar" *finally breathes*

[@TokyoBlue587]

yes, but who will be left to teach them how to play?

[@matt4240]

yes. music that doesn't come from guitars isn't real music. music is about being difficult to play, not about the sound. most importantly, if electronic music is real then i'd feel i wasted my time and get super bitter. if i downloaded ableton i'd surely be able to make the best EDM in existence but, ya know, i just don't bother. basically i play guitar just to get women and i need it to be popular or i won't. i don't actually understand or care about music.

[@johnryan3374]

I think that rock music is not a popular as it once was, but I also think that people are hungry for this type of music to make a comeback. Modern rock (if you can call it that) doesn't have the same driving beat and energy that classic rock does. Hopefully a new form of rock music will emerge that will satisfy people of all ages.

[@MnyFrNthng]

Exactly. I still listen to 90% rock but almost all of the are old stuff pre-95, except Dream Theater. The best song are done in 70s, 80s, 90s. And there are hundreds of them. Why would I spend time with today's machine based music? IMO. The thing is 100 years will pass and all those classics rock songs will still be listened to. Not EDM or hip-hop. Do you really believe people in 2080 will listen to Beyonce. I bet they will still listen to Bohemian, Hotel California, Free Bird, Living on a Prayer, Master of Puppets, Sweet Child O'mine, etc. etc.

[@CarlosAnglada]

@@MnyFrNthng Not hip-hop? Come on...

[@jc.1191]

Definitely going to be something more sincere and raw.

[@beingsshepherd]

People want rock without the rebellion, which is why it ain't happenin' For some unspoken reason these days, everyone now supports the government's troops, as though it's the obvious _good_ thing to do. I imagine everyone in this very thread is obdurately of that same "patriotic" mentality, which they refuse to even question.

[@Lycurgus1982]

This video was very insightful and really put things in perspective for me, growing up in the last era of rock. My favorite band, King's X is exceptional and as soon as you dropped the name i knew you would say something positive about them. Thank you, man. Cheers

[@kevgamble]

So many variables that it's hard to settle on what the definitive answer is. Two things are top of mind for me. One: The idea that rock as we know it was a construct of a certain form of commerce in a certain range of time. It needed the gatekeepers, the kinds of mass media, and the barriers to entry that allowed a big business with the right amount of detached celebrity to form around it. It drew from a culturally rich upbringing in music that became intensely commercial at the right time and with the right audience. All of those variables have now fragmented or changed. Rock of the past seemed like a natural outcome of its environment; rock of the present seems like an imitation of something. Second is what I call "shortcuts". There are shortcuts in every part of the process now that dilute it and undermine the ability of substantial artistic statements and cultural impacts to be made. Anyone with a little money and a computer can make almost any kind of music now, and it shows. You rarely get the sense any more that you're really hearing an artist; you're hearing them run through a pile of software, which now extends to the stage. Pop music has never sounded more like a factory spewing out the same formulaic stuff; production is immaculate but all sounds the same. Radio has retreated into a few commercially safe formats. No one needs to buy music any more; you can listen to and watch whatever you want now, for free, any time. All of this together dilutes music from its creation to its consumption. Everything is watered down and it matters. We can't have every part of the process get cheapened and expect the result to have the same resonance.

[@BlunderCity]

The classic channels of the recording music industry has declined 80% or 90% from its peak. The reality is that there is no money in that industry anymore. And what do the big actors of an industry do when it's dying? They concentrate on what is safe, on their "sure thing". And the sure thing isn't a 4 piece rock band, it's a cheaper and simpler to produce hip hop, EDM or modern R&B act or a manufactured pop star. Before, there was enough money to produce a wide array of music and enough marketing money to brainwashed everyone into liking it all. Now, there is only enough money to produce the lowest common denominator so that the rest of the money can be used brainwashing us into liking it. Diversity is a luxury we can no longer afford and rock has been the biggest casualty.

[@MichaelCoughlanmusic]

Rock is underground. It is waiting for when people care again. Probably when country becomes actual country again and 'rhythm' and 'blues' returns to R & B. 🎸 🎹 🎷 🕓

[@selenite1]

Now that's what I was just thinking. I'm sure that there are plenty of r&b and country fans who are grumbling that their favorite music only sounds like pop music with a sterilized accent. I don't think that it's a mistake that both genres had a lot of strong acts when rock was doing well in the 90's.

[@mercurychild333]

Yes ,back to the clubs and ballrooms..........the wheel will turn around again

[@11DNA11]

It'll be awhile, but eventually rock music will have to bail people out. Again.

[@philmstud2k]

Brazil to Imagine Dragons: “Don’t come to. Brazil.”

[@Hodji91]

Country is only a thing in the US

[@jamesgilmartin4641]

Love all your KZbin posts! Extremely informative, enlightening and enjoyable! Keep them coming. Using the KZbin platform to its full potential as a teaching medium.

[@jamesgilmartin4641]

I think of you as the Anthony Bourdain of music! Cheers!

[@RustyWood]

Recently subscribed to your channel, Rick and am enjoying your videos very much. Keep up the great job!

[@jorgiewtf]

To me, this video is Rick subconsciously challenging those of us who rock to take back music and make it what it once was... amazing music! Rick, challenge accepted!

[@leetorry]

music is still amazing, stop using the mainstream as the only place to find modern music.

[@TakeFlight]

Come on widdit Jorge WTF!!🌏🌍

[@PrimalCircus]

Rock had its day. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next! I’m glad rock came along when it did. Jazz had its time. Let’s see what comes next!

[@13blackcats33]

Rock ---->Post Rock

[@slothstradamus89]

Welp, it's been 2 years. How did that "challenge" go? Did ya get signed? No? Did you even pick up an INSTRUMENT?! ...Yea, I didn't think so lol.

[@prod.illysochilly]

Kanye said that Hip-Hop is the Rock music of now. Unfortunately, I'd have to agree. A lot of kids are ditching guitar for fl studio and a lil midi keyboard.

[@stevenatwood3426]

You can get midi guitars as well.

[@RUfromthe40s]

it´s cheaper but it´s not related with young kids taste but with their fathers money, i only bought my first guitar when i was 16 cost me new what today is 65€ ,it looked like a stratocaster all black and wooden arm ,brand hondo ,had a stolen wah-wah pedal and a amplifier that didn´t require distortion pedal ,because it was always in distortion , and played a lot of concerts in highschools in a punk band or anarcotic style as a friend of mine that was killed call it

[@lordberly]

Never been a fan of him (and hip hop in general) but I gotta say he's (sadly) right

[@von0410]

@@lordberly Bro have you checked out his albums he’s pretty freaking good

[@stewartbone4236]

It was an era we were lucky to experience. I never realized how wonderful it was but listening to you brings back memories of how it was. I think life was a bit slower and information more valued. We talked a lot more, there were no distractions, we listened and shared more together. Looking back, it was truly special. And I was piss-poor too.

[@petergentile9132]

Rock will never die but it will never again attain mainstream status

[@_jimmythesaint]

Disagree

[@Izakokomarixyz]

Disagree, rock will eventually die. Do you think people will still be listening to rock in the next 50-100 years? Do people still listen to polka? Yes but VERY few.

[@outcastpov9366]

@@Izakokomarixyz I fail to see what's so far fetched about rock still being listened to in the next 100 years. I mean there's still ppl listening to classics written by artists like Mozart who died centuries ago

[@Izakokomarixyz]

Raining Insanity - Like I said, there will be people who listen to rock but it will be very few, kind of how like some people still like polka music, or disco.

[@Galidorquest]

Izakokomarixyz Rock is practically on life support these days...

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

Rock ain't dead, it just smells funny

[@heckler73]

Same with Zappa. ;-)

[@JulianIsAnthony]

I don’t agree but I had to leave a like for the Zappa reference.

[@pooperpants3577]

Rock is dead and smells funny

[@fretlessblunder]

You mean, "stinks" funny! BTW, love your videos! Keep 'em coming!!!

[@tinyb4165]

Most likely a case of Bromhidrosis, caused by the occasional Python boot.

[@im215exempt]

"Nickelback killed rock." 🤣 So true. I was laughing at someone's hilarious comedic timing during Rick's live session.

[@richsackett3423]

So not true. It just died of old age like any other worn-out genre.

[@patrickmulder2450]

I don't know how they are in the US these days, but it appears that the last time they managed to get in the charts here in the Netherlands was back in 2006 with Far away. Thats 12 years ago! If they are even remembered it's for that 'how you remind me' song back in 2001! Even when you mainly listen to Rock stations you rarely hear Nickelback. They are unimportant, uninteresting and not influencial enough to kill anything except their own careers.

[@richsackett3423]

I did an analysis like that a couple years ago. 2007 was the year I came up with.

[@clouds5]

im215exempt they really did. And everybody knew it. I was at a local rock festival in 2001 or something and the other bands laughed and disliked them, the audience didn't like them and threw stuff at them... We all felt it that they would fuck everything up.

[@dogmart]

Fantastic channel, Rick. These video lectures and discussions are inspiring and smart, as is the analysis in the episodes of "What Makes This Song Great?" Please keep up the good work--this kind of analysis and discussion will help rock survive.

[@alexencaos]

Love your channel, great content

[@Crackmandan]

I've been listening to a lot more Japanese rock bands because they seem to garner that spirit of rock and roll that we here in the states have forgotten. If anyone is curious I've been listening to a lot of Art School, Supercar, and Bloodthirsty Butchers.

[@nolynylon]

Ningen Isu

[@greg2502]

Forgotten? No. Moved beyond ? Yes

[@Ferroll2]

As long as I'm alive, rock will never be dead!!!!!!

[@Roboprogs]

Ferroll Givens i wonder if my grandparents felt like that about big band music 😞 people still play classical and jazz but the sun sets and another takes the stage

[@TokyoBlue587]

They can pry my rock-filled iPod out of my cold dead hands!

[@sixstringmarauder]

It grieves me to think about where the future of music is going, totally electronic without soul,without feeling without humanity, and creativity.

[@beingsshepherd]

And language too, with all these infantile abbreviations: _Selfies, veggies, apps._

[@billklaproth1]

Hi Rick I am a subscriber and own the "Beato Book" thanks for your great work. I am a former rock radio program director with my last stop at 97.9 The Loop in Chicago. I actually have been thinking about this lately, the way I look at it is great songs win, we no longer have young guitar heroes or guitar bands with rock star lead singers who can write mass appeal hit songs with catchy hooks and memorable lyrics wrapped around incredible musicianship. You’re right “grunge” was the last time all of these factors came together to form a “movement.” Plus, guitar-driven music isn’t the sound of today’s generation as a mass-appeal genre (outside of country) or even a viable rock radio format. For Boomers and Gen Xers, guitar music was the foundation or an important complementary part in many hit songs, and that’s not the case today with computer-driven music. So much more to say about this, but will rock music ever define the sound of a generation again? Sadly, in my opinion, I don’t think so.

[@RussPaladino]

Lack of originality is what killed rock. Everyone started sounding the same. Faceless and interchangeable. The same could be said for jazz - there are many outstanding players, but aren’t identifiable like Trane was vs Rollins vs Getz or Freddie Hubbard vs Woody Shaw, and on and on. The ethic of the 60s-80s was that you would try to craft your own sound to get noticed. Then it became about fitting in to a genre. Those earlier bands and players were grouped into a genre but maintained their unique sound within it. It was more an artificial construct of record companies and radio than players and bands pursuing it. Unique things still get noticed and go viral (Ir: Snarky Puppy). Whether it will ever pay like it used to is a question that remains to be answered.

[@nfijef]

Good point

[@JensHilzensauer]

Labels always tried to sign similar bands to bands that sold... If anything is big, the competing label signs a similar artist... really short-sighted point of view..

[@secularnevrosis]

That sums it up I would say. Labels don't take risks anymore. So in the end everything is a bleak copy of it self.

[@FESPK]

Maybe it's time to keep forward and try another musical genre.

[@lakshmibrandrice2198]

Most likely no... I mean they will be paid.... But not much....

[@bacchicbachian3694]

Obviously Rock isn't dead... 'cause YOU rock!

[@HazeAnderson]

you just won the internet :D

[@fortheloveofmusic860]

Rock isn't dead at all. It just doesn't get attention from mainstream media. It's all to do with money and the big recording companies controling what we get to hear. They pay and influence radio airplay, which influences downloads and sales, which again influences the charts. The recording companies created a self enforcing virtual loop. Rock, in all it's variations, is still well alive and going strong. Bands like Halestorm, Idles, Monster Truck, Chelsea Wolfe, Inglorious and many more make great music with hit potential. Update 3 years later october 2021. Been checking out a lot of new music through the charts through metacritic, a website collecting reviews, radio and Spotify. Here rock and metal is doing really well. Gojira and Trivium got amazing reviews, there's a lot of (alternative and indie)rock and The Pretty Reckless and Mammoth WVH are doing well. Listening to the radio, at least here in The Netherlands, the most listened to stations play rock. Festivals still need rock bands to sell tickets. The thing is that the whole music market has become so fragmented and every genre its own little planet. And a lot of kids (aka the non record buyers generation) just listen and stream Pop/EDM/r'n'b/hip-hop hybrid stuff. And with their streaming they dominate the charts, although it doesn't proof anything in the amount of unique listeners. Rock music and all other sorts of music, I believe, have just a lot listeners. But because they do, still, true cd, vinyl and radio they don't get valued and won't ever chart and so will not get in to the focus of the mainstream listener.

[@CALIODD]

You've got the point dude! I'm totally agree.

[@fortheloveofmusic860]

@@GH23d7sL45 YOU think it's not very good.

[@VCCassidy]

Interesting points. I remember back in the early 00s waiting for another Grunge to happen and thinking for a brief moment that the Garage Rock revival (white stripes, strokes, hives) might be it, and then seeing it get watered down into pop music like The Killers. Rock may not be the dominant genre anymore but I think it's improved the overall quality of the rock music being made, now that nobody is worried about making money. Niche micro-genres like Black Metal, shoegazing, emo-revival, Hardcore/power violence, prog metal, tech/death and garage punk are healthy, vibrant underground scenes in the US and Europe, and while they don't fill stadiums right now, neither did grunge and alternative music in the late 80s. All it takes is one authentic rock band to break and expose how homogenized EDM and trap-rap has become. But until then I'm going to enjoy seeing bands like NAILS and Code Orange at smaller venues destroying the audience with amps and guitars.

[@scottlevine5030]

Kids don't have guitar heroes anymore. It used to be that rock musicians were like these crazy aliens. Back when long hair was unusual, there was virtually nobody around a typical kid that resembled a rock star. They were unattainable, and seductive. This was true a little passed when hair metal died. Rock also ceased to be fun. While grunge was awesome, it was also kind of low self esteem, and the only direction was to make things more low self esteem. That alienated everyone that felt ok about themselves, which is most people. People look to music for entertainment. They want fun, and they want universal emotional relatability. Pink Floyd is dark, but also kind of fun, for example, and they deal with universal themes. Nirvana was actually fun even though it was cathartic. Radiohead is an amazingly danceable live band. You wouldn't think so from the records, but its true. To clarify further. I grew up in the 80's and 90's. My dad wore a suit and tie to work. The only thing a young boy knows about a suit and tie is that its uncomfortable, and daddy has to wear one every day and he goes to work with people he doesn't like. A good boy kept his hair short (yeah, I know that there were lots of long haired guys before that, but it was still, to an extent, seen as rebellious) and dresses conventionally. Music lessons focused on classical music theory, and they were boring. But if you turned on MTV in the 80's you saw these guys to whom none of this applied. Where you were being made to dress conventionally, tey could be as over the top as they wanted. You had to play polite music, but they had electric guitars and made them scream. They appeared to live in a constant party, surrounded by beautiful women. They broke all the rules that had been set out for you to follow, and they were winning at life. Just wild and free and having the good time you always wanted to. It was alien, but somehow....if you could play guitar, that was the first step towards being like THAT, and not like all the grown ups you saw. You could have all the girls that you were too awkward to get on your own. The rules wouldn't have to apply to you. That was what rock and roll meant from the late 60's-90's. Its also, to an extent why it was always a boys club. Now look at today. My young daughters know that daddy plays rock and roll guitar and has to go to practice on tuesday. Until recently, Daddy had long hair. But its normal to them. Daddy works a corporate job, and makes good money, but he likes what he does and works with cool people (I'm a creative professional), and wears whatever he wants to work, and that's normal too. People dress in all kinds of styles and have no problem expressing themselves everywhere they go. They are too young to be seriously rebellious, but they do tell me to quiet down a lot. The rock music that is out there for them, doesn't carry the promise of escape, or fun, or transgression. The stuff that has it is the old stuff. Rock stars look like everyone else. EDM has the fun quotient. It has the characters. It is the alien lifestyle to aspire to now. Unless rock captures the rebellious spirit of youth, it will become....not old fashioned, but traditional. Like a folk song. And that's all it was to an extent anyway. Electric folk music, vernacular to the youth. Rock should make parents nervous, not comfortable.

[@scottlevine5030]

The romance is what inspires the art. Nobody wants art about the real world. They want what could be. Especially if what "is" is not appealing.

[@scottlevine5030]

Also, checked out your channel. Great playing!

[@scottlevine5030]

Agreed, though I like all of it. Even the Ramones were heroes. Seeing the Ramones started thousands of bands. They expressed what others were not expressing, and it gave kids motivation to say "I can say something too". That's important. I would also say that today's music environment is sort of geared towards solitude. You with a computer. In prior years, you needed to collaborate with others to make things, and thats one of the things that gave music energy. The feeling of playing on stage with people and making the music in real time has an energy. The audience can feel it.

[@ProgRockNerd]

Nothing is for everybody. I love Yes--they don't seem particularly preachy to me. Satire and spleen have their place, but that place can't be in the center. If they're in the center, everything else gets shut out and everyone forgets how to express anything else. We can see this plainly in rock. Heck, we can see it everywhere outside Reaganville by now. Even a twenty-minute prog-rock epic is its own kind of fun. We *do* need art that shows us what can be, or else all we'll aspire to is to Make The Pain Stop. And who should be satisfied with a world like that?? We've got to give people something that makes then *want* to escape Reaganville. And rock's not doing that.

[@ProgRockNerd]

We *do* want art about the real world *occasionally*. But it has to be more than Ten Good Songs About Things Sucking. One thing about the classic rockers that few people seem to remember is that they could do both. Even Yes made "The Gates of Delirium", after all.

[@slomaks]

I never understood why Faith No More weren't bigger in the US. They have a massive following in Europe, and I was lucky to see them here in Serbia five years ago. It was a great concert!

[@frodofraggins]

cheesy vocals

[@kevt31]

@@frodofraggins what the heck? Have you only ever listened to Epic and We care alot?

[@frodofraggins]

@@kevt31 I've only heard what was played on MTV and I didn't really like most of it. I never had a desire to hear anything else.

[@southdank3190]

one of the best bands from that era

[@StratMatt777]

I'll tell you the reason... It's it.

[@higgsfieldinthefield9916]

All the best from sunny Scotland, thanks for all the fantastic advice Rick.

[@crypsilonmusic2822]

Rockmusic changed over the last 60 years, allways in a musical way. But now it‘s allways faster, harder and louder. It becomes to technical. What we need is new simple rockmusic which grows out of the 70s rock.

[@Eventual420]

Not dead. I was in Seattle and the kids in Guitar Center still shred their balls off. Their radio stations kick total ass. They are not market dominated by one media conglomerate. The whole city robust and alive/well. That is not the case for all media markets, and there are conglomerates making profits over content. For them, the broadband internet is providing content. Those markets are at risk, because it could be said that TV is dead. Radio is dead. Newspapers are dead, and we could go on and on about how nobody wants to watch TV content that is horrible and basically spoon feeds misinformation daily. Where is the problem? Music sales. If the medium has changed from a physical to a digital, there are ways to continue to purchase music, I have a host of 20 somethings in my life. My kids, their boyfriends, my employees are all totally into music and purchasing digital copies for their cloud. They ALL play guitar to some degree, even my daughters play. Son plays violin. I had to ask them how to build up my audio stash with new music I enjoy. Yes, I have a ripped collection of 15k songs from my CD stash, which my wife wants to discard, btw. Old stuff from the roaring 80s, eclectic stuff from film scores, sound tracks, Myst? Riven? I have the CD! I upload original music constantly. My channel uploads are all original content, with a couple exceptions. I learn from guys like you, Rick. Thank You! Thanks to this wonderful new community, KZbin was originally for content creators. Instead we got a load of rants and raves, VLOGs, and plenty of gamers. I think KZbin needs to organize their content, I would like to be around other content creators, musicians, from Pro to Hobbyist. Your insights to scales are my newest catalyst. I am exploring the world outside of Ionian modes, diatonic scales, life beyond Harmonic Minor, and I can't wait to upload my new music. I don't tag them to death, I am hard to find in search criteria, I have 63 subscribers, mostly friends and family. I hope you get a chance to review my content. I am no scholar, certainly amateur. But that's the FUN in KZbin. We are just regular folks. I majored in Architecture and English Lit. I never got out of construction. Still work like crazy, but that's income, and it feeds the kids so... I owe, I owe, so off to work I go...

[@AbbeyRoadkill1]

Eventual420, yes, there are places where rock music is still very much alive and well, and Seattle is one of them.

[@sushirollusa]

Very true here in Memphis all around the world .. The kids are playing better than ever .. Your comments are more than true !

[@graphicartdude]

First time watching your videos Rick. I enjoyed the nostalgic discussion. I'm 38 years old and knew all of the bands you mentioned. I feel old when millennials say they've never heard of At the Drive In or Soundgarden, or I hear Alice In Chains on "classic rock" radio. You forgot to mention one of the best bands since the 80's... Faith No More (who's latest album was even great). And whatever that noise on your computer was, you should probably turn that down... it is distracting. Thanks.

[@luciennecorriveauf4746]

Truly enjoyed the video. :D

[@grg2110]

Great video Rick. Love your channel. Long love rock and grunge.

[@str8todamoney]

Hey Rick? Have you considered starting a podcast? I would tune in every week if you had one.

[@TokyoBlue587]

str8todamoney I would too, totally! There's a podcast called Song Exploder where they analyze a song but it's nowhere near as good as Rick's "what makes this song great" series.

[@bassinblue]

Rock is dying and very weak. I think we killed it. New musicians calling themselves 'rockstars' are doing exactly what rock bands did 50 years ago, same chords and same concept for lyrics. Nothing innovative or new is being created. Even me, as a 21 year old guitarist have decided to go solo as a musician (thanks to looper pedals), because I can't find ANY drummer or bassist who thinks 'let's create something new', instead I deal with people who play exactly like John Bonham, exactly like Jimi Hendrix, exactly like John Entwistle, but these guys are dead and you're just imitating them. This is why drummers and bassists are replaced by a keyboard to replicate their instruments (sad, but true). Sorry if this sounded harsh, but it's what I've realised.

[@Jellybeantiger]

David Harrison load of cods wallop,I have been trying to find guitarists that are into creative music but they all wanna play conservative guitar type rock,really boring,the best bands in my opinion have one sound,that is everyone is so good,you don’t listen to one instrument,you listen to a sound,Mahavishnu Orchestra had this,old Genesis had this,today’s music scene is sooo conservative,no creative music that gives you goosebumps around anymore,just listen to old Zappa,incredible.

[@lecorsaire2283]

We don’t have to apologize for anything. The reason why we all keep looking at the past is because it was awesome. When all along the watchtower comes on, I don’t have to try to like it. I get a rush right away and chills when I hear that wah. I don’t think we were any different. It’s all due to a lack of exposure and promotion. The reality is that people like whatever they hear. Just look the billboard 100. That stuff barely qualifies as music. It’s not even rap a la 2pac or Eminem anymore! Even rap is in the gutter.

[@Jellybeantiger]

lecorsaire corporate businessmen is the answer.

[@lecorsaire2283]

Jellybeantiger Yeah, the whole situation is really unfortunate. I am 100% sure that lots of young people would really love this music if they were exposed to it. I don’t see how anyone can listen to something like Don’t Fear the Reaper and not get chills.

[@ProgRockNerd]

Yes, that stuff IS awesome. And I love raising awareness of it. But it's not necessarily the perfect answer to the question of what we should be doing *now* . We can be *inspired* by it, and one of the things it can inspire us to do is to reach for the next level and try new things. Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms were inspired by Bach, and it shows, but their music is really rather different.

[@missALEX178]

I really liked this video! You have epic taste in music! I enjoyed your thoughts and perspective on rock. I was super impressed how you were able to recognize bands from the comments and just give out little facts about them. I agree, we haven't heard of a new rock band being signed lately so maybe rock is dead? There hasn't been a huge new genre phenomenon since grunge. I mean grunge shifted the entire culture of the 90s. Grunge was the last big "movement." It is interesting that it seems music today has evolved into more of a mixture of past genres rather than trying to make a new genre. Bands are experimenting with putting different sounds and genres together like imagine dragons, twenty one pilots, and panic at the disco. But as for pure rock, I think the foos are the last band still pushing for that rock sound. Pop/Hip Hop/EDM are on the mainstage of the music industry today while rock has been on the sidelines, still around but used as an aid to other genres like Alt/Indie/Pop Punk rather than released on its own. Anyways, yeah those are my thoughts after watching this. Again, awesome video hope you do more videos about music history!

[@Hughmonte]

Thank you for this video. I am creating a new album of music and Im trying to find out whats the best vibe. This helped me understand the frequency of market. Not something I love but I have to learn if I want to succeed in this biz. So thanks again and I look forward to learning more from you bro.

[@davidstoneback6159]

Best youtube channel, hands down! Wish i lived near new york so i could come hang with you and adam :(

[@ofadetergentsud]

Presumptuous AF.

[@ront2457]

I teach guitar and Piano. None of my students have a stereo or know of any guitar players or any musicians other than pop stars. They have no favorite bands and music is just background noise for most modern families.

[@str8todamoney]

That's interesting. Do you ever approach teaching from a familiar perspective? In middle school, my music teacher played hiphop songs that sampled from jazz records. He never looked down on the music and he's one of the reasons I learned piano and enjoy jazz and classical music now. Maybe you might want to try something similar.

[@ront2457]

I introduce them to all kinds of music and I actually try to have them find songs they like then along with their regular studies I explore the songs they like and I also try to get them to listen to different genres. I tell all of them to come here to explore music with Rick as he's giving away some of the most incredible knowledge...Yeah Rick!!

[@nfijef]

Me too

[@str8todamoney]

Ron T hell yeah

[@SethRyan27]

I share a similar experience from my time teaching. Sadly..

[@caljohn88]

I feel like everyone has forgotten about The Black Keys. They were massive!

[@jackthomson5047]

Rival sons

[@sanyaaynas7832]

He just said that they're not that big

[@arbogash1852]

Massive? No

[@stanspb763]

No signings? Wow, I have been out of it for a while. When I started in 1967 in San Francisco I knew only a few of the hundreds of bands I knew personally, who DIDN'T get signed. Every night in 4-6 ballrooms had 4-8 bands a night and almost every one of them was selling records on major labels.

[@NotthatRossKemp]

The answer is yes, with a caveat. The business is dead, the artform is not...

[@larriveeman]

the 70's were the golden years

[@KTMBB71]

I am SO LUCKY to have grown up with Keith Richards a man who's interviews are as GREAT as his music.

[@mordantvistas4019]

The media also has distorted the definition of Rock and Roll. I remember Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus being introduced as rock stars. Once the definition gets changed, it (ROCK) will have to come back as something else.

[@boarhead5573]

Born in 1995, loving Rock, Metal and Grunge as a teen and still doing, I realize that Rock was actually dying, when I was growing up? That's kinda sad. :(

[@Longhorn.Rock_Roll61]

You tube is one of the reasons you dnt see gold records.

[@Halfpastseven]

Great info!

[@briandaniels2126]

Basically Rock may be dead or close to it in the mainstream but underground Rock-N-Roll is alive and well!!!!!

[@Trx-ep7rg]

You missed the Black Crowes. Awesome 90's rock band. They just were classic rock in grunge era. That's why they didn't get so big later on.

[@Trx-ep7rg]

@@IvanLendl87 Yeah now that you say it, they were in both in Atlanta in the 90's.

[@remotegod255]

WOW this is the rock history video I did not know I needed... until now. so good. *practices guitar diligently while watching intently* if I said everything I wanted here, this comment would last infinity

[@bluemarblemark]

Rick! Love your analysis. Especially concerning the rise of EDM. Appreciate your restraint when it comes to NOT disrespecting the mix masters that create this genre...people love it and in the end that's all that matters. There's much that can be said about it from a personal POV, but opinions mean little in the end. The dismantling of the business has a lot of components that all happened in concert...unwittingly, AND intentionally. I subscribed because of your historical breakdown. When I became a dad, I stopped "following" music (1983). Most of my interaction was purely passive radio listening....so I missed much of the parade. This type of interaction was likely not too uncommon and part of the demise mix. As you stated, bands became too homogeneous without the identifiable front man or notable shredder. Will rock "come back"? It will take a different mindset by listeners..."indy" is where I think it will stay for some time. "It's old" is the current mindset. From arenas..... to coffee shops.

[@hugh-johnfleming289]

Kids are having that ethos beaten out of them, boys especially, in government schools. Independence is being throttled. Talent and individuality are frowned upon in the Era of Participation Trophies.

[@pat5882]

Unless it’s a magnet school, large city school districts are doing away with music class.

[@mgmassey174]

Yep and no music classes

[@northof4912]

Your comments are unfortunately bang on! Society individuality, and boys are not allowed to be boys anymore….

[@bryandukeBrynyab]

It’s even worse than you’ve outlined Rick. I’m just in a cover band Rick but we all loooove hard rock and are trying to get around the standards scene mediocrity in our city. Venue managers say outright “we don’t book rock. Rocks a pretty broad genre right? We book fem fronted pop” they say. well we have an awesome female singer so we’re out there playing big pop hits with an big rock arrangement and people love it! But we still struggle to get booked. Bars do great biz when we play but they’re stuck in this mindset that rock is trouble and rock is too loud and girls don’t like rock and the bar doesn’t have girls then it doesn’t have the men either. I could go on and on but even wh n I go to my paid Apple Music playlists the rock playlist Its literally hidden right at the end. All their so called AI picks “just for you” still pushes you towards pop.

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

It seems all the bars managers in your town are complete foolish jerks :)))

[@Duncanwg7]

Nickelbacks first few albums were iconical for the genre, post grunge. They really dont get enough credit for their origin work. Granted their more recent work is "popularized" but such is the case for most rock bands these days

[@Cyberfender1]

Modern Country = blended crap. EDM= musical food poisoning Preach IT!

[@Timmy_1011]

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. Cheers ✌

[@AndrewColyerMusic]

What a great rock music history lesson over the past 40 years. It's amazing the encyclopedia of knowledge that you have in so many areas of music. Is Rock Music dead? No, it's just gone the way of the Indie Rock bands, promoting themselves. Also, it's become so splintered (classic / progressive / metal / etc.) that there's not one sound to dominate the mainstream. That's also because, as you stated Rick, the labels (therefore, the world) have moved more towards EDM, hip-hop, and Pop. As a giant worldwide movement, rock is not the dominant force, as many people have stated. But it's definitely not dead.

[@AndrewColyerMusic]

I was at the AES Convention at the Javits Center in NYC two weeks ago, sitting in a group of people that included Pearl Jam's longtime stage monitor engineer on my left, and two young guys in their 20's on the right. "Oh yeah, my dad likes Pearl Jam." OUCH!!! But these guys (one african-american, one Hispanic), were complaining that all they hear on the radio is Pop. And they didn't like it. And my modern progressive rock band Circuline has been getting lots of good feedback from people of all ages, particularly the musicality from which we write, and the 3-4 part vocal harmonies. "We don't hear that" is a common comment. So people of all ages, worldwide, appreciate rock. It will take a concerted effort by Indie artists and the labels to bring rock back to the forefront of the music industry.

[@Etherealtheband]

Rick truly loves rock. I wish I could afford to have him produce our music. love your passion

[@beingsshepherd]

But what's his professional track record?

[@antoniobatelier]

Grettings from Chile Rick. I'm seeing this on 2020, a little late but really enjoyed your view on this topic. To give people some frame of reference, is not that there are not great new rock bands, like Rival Sons, The Struts, Royal Blood, King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizard, St Vincent, to name a few. But here in Chile, only people who listens actively to rock music, is gonna know this bands. I know that sounds weird, but i got the feeling that maybe until early 2000, rock was so big, that you didn't have to be a big rock listener, to know a lot of rock bands, becasue in fact they were in A LOT of radio stations. Even here in Chile. Now, maybe here, there are left 2 rock radios? And all the other ones plays little to none guitar rock music. So yeah, I think is very difficult for rock to ever be as big as it was, but maybe more becasue of the way the music industry has shifted with Internet and streaming. That was a lot of words, but anyway, love your videos, maybe you are never reading this, but i know as a musician, that an extra comment ok youtube is always welcomed.

[@tarttooth6022]

47:13 Rick may be thinking of Nothing is Sound. One of two Switchfoot albums I still revisit sometimes. The thick, distorted guitar tones (along with the entire production) are immaculate.

[@WigEngine]

Some have commented that the amateurism of grunge is what killed rock. Personally, I think amateurism is what created rock and will continue to be the salvation of rock. With few exceptions, my favorite bands have been those that started out not knowing what the fuck they were doing. The garage band model might have become the laptop band model. But the core elements remain - the audacity to suck, suck while amplified and suck with all your heart is what eventually creates rock greatness. :) Also - speaking of things that dudes like to blame for the “death” of rock. Sometime, let’s hear some love for the Riot Grrrl movement. Noisy, messy, political, audacious punk - and rock as fuck. P.S. Love this channel.

[@ProgRockNerd]

dooder Genres don't really kill each other; the press and industry kill genres in the name of other genres. Glam rock mostly sucked, but the solution to that is glam rock that rules, not *no* glam rock.

[@MaxOakland]

I totally agree with you and Riot Grrl was awesome. This makes me think: a lot of the most adventurous rock music being made is by women and has been for a long time. Maybe the sexism of the audience is making it impossible for rock to flourish right now

[@dead_kennedys7870]

Wig Engine I’ve never heard anyone blame Riot Girl (no I’m not adding all those letters), typically it’s Pop Punk and Ska getting thrown under the bus for “killing” punk. They didn’t.

[@ProgRockNerd]

But rock wasn't really invented by amateurs in a garage. It was invented by low-level pros. The amateurs could take inspiration from the low-level pros in a way that they couldn't from jazz and classical players. PUNK was invented by amateurs. And punk orthodoxy has spread so deep and wide that no one questions it any more.

[@StratMatt777]

Anyone who would call grunge amateur would have to be a person who is not aware of the skill of Jerry Cantrell of AIC or know that Mike McCready is so good because he is a huge SRV fan. And these people should try to play "Black Hole Sun" on guitar! As a highschool kid in Seattle in 1993, I had little interest in Nirvana due to the vocals (though I did buy "Nevermind" for "Come as you are" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit")... and that Pearl Jam's first album was magic, as were Alice In Chain's first 4 albums (not including the Sap EP) while Layne Staley was still alive. I will not admit to heavy listening of Metallica's Black album or Dr. Dre. :P As these artists have said, none of them know what "grunge" is... I suppose we could call Nirvana grunge, but the other bands we cannot because they all sound different from each other. :) "the audacity to suck, suck while amplified and suck with all your heart is what eventually creates rock" sounds like Punk Rock to me?

[@kenkeyes8148]

It's July 27, 2020. The Billboard Hot 100 is 95% Hip Hop. Rock has gone the way of Big Band Music in the 50's.

[@RTDF516]

I'm recalling in the post September 11th wave of paranoia it became difficult for big-name bands from overseas to get visas. That seemed to almost immediately put a hit on large scale concerts, the effects of which trickled down to dampen the rock music scene in general.

[@brianblackwood3120]

As long as you and people like you are breaking down songs it won’t be dead. Maybe less popular but man I play I’m an indie artist and have more of a footing in Europe than USA but idc. I make the best music I can and use stuff I learn on your channel and you absolutely inspire me. Love it. Even if it is more localized it’s not dead.

[@larriveeman]

beatles, stones, zep, floyd, faces, free, cream, hendrix

[@KevinScherrer]

Warning: Long rant follows. I've been thinking about this too and I found the rock music's murderer. It's a catagory called Classic Rock. Don't get me wrong, I love the old songs from the 70s and 80s. It's the music I grew up with, but the thought hit me early last year when Bowie died. I was listening to one of our many classic rock format stations and they were doing their typical "Rock Block Weekend" stuff and they had just finished an Aerosmith block with mostly the same old songs (Dream On, Walk this Way, Back in the Saddle) and then they threw on a live version of Train Kept a Rollin', and I thought "That's a little deeper than they usually go. Well done!" Next up was Bowie. Rebel Rebel, Fame, and Space Oddity. Some of my favorite songs of all time, but Bowie had just (practically) posthumously released Blackstar and I had only heard one song from it. It got me thinking about which radio station might play it and none in the Seattle area came to mind other than maybe KEXP. (KMTT would have in the past, but they changed their format to something heinous so not anymore.) A perfect time for playing new songs from David Bowie would have been during the Rock Block on that classic rock station but they didn't do it. And they couldn't do it because this kind of music is the new oldies. You can't have new "oldies" so program managers aren't going to play new music even from the artists they are going to the well with for the last 30 years. Now, I am not worried too much about other artists of Bowie's stature. We will find their music on Spotify and KZbin, but things used to be so much better. Back in the 70s and 80s we had a format called AOR, or Album Oriented Rock. Anything that was 20 or 30 years old got relegated to the oldies station. (Think Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley) But the core of today's Classic Rock rotation came from that time period and DJs were taking chances on bands all the time. This was where we heard ZZ Top, AC/DC, and Van Halen, when they were brand new. They were still playing the Beatles and the Stones too, but the Eagles and Steely Dan were in the mix as well. When Billy Joel would put out a new record they'd be sure to get the first single in heavy rotation quick and make us like it. Sure, out in the Pacific Northwest we didn't hear a lot of Velvet Underground or The Jam, but KZEL in Eugene Oregon put the Jim Carrol Band's "People Who Died" in heavy rotation right alongside all the Journey and Fleetwood Mac we could handle. And we continued to hear a lot of diverse musical choices until MTV came along. But even then our choices, though limited to what was being played a lot on the music video channel, broadened to include more than just Butt Rock and Heavy Metal. We started hearing music from weird bands like U2, and The Police. Today when I listen to my Spotify mixes and I hear songs from bands like The Eagles of Death Metal or Sebadoh I think, there is no reason why these songs would not fit into the "Classic Rock" format. Or Queens of the Stone Age for that matter. But they just aren't old enough to make the cut I guess. Nirvana is making the cut now, and some of the older REM, but even those are few and far between and not the deepest cuts. There is a wealth of music classified as Rock and Roll that the programmers of "Classic Rock" feel are off limits and I think it's killing Rock and Roll. Old guys don't want to lose their Led Zep and CCR, but I bet if you mixed in some J.D McPherson and Gary Clark Jr. they would play along nicely. I miss AOR radio. Somebody needs to bring it back.

[@ProgRockNerd]

AIUI, when grunge came along, "alternative" radio got the credit for breaking it. So new tracks were serviced to "alternative" radio first, and at the time, that meant there was no major-label music suitable for servicing to AOR stations first. So the AOR stations almost all changed their formats. 96rock here in Atlanta went for years with a format made up of classic rock and post-grunge and grunge, with almost no '80s music and no heavy metal. If it was ever popular, it deserves a home somewhere on commercial broadcast radio. I agree that we need AOR back, but that would mean a broad playlist. And classic rock radio is about nothing if not playing it safe. But by now, they're playing not to lose, and if that's all they do, losing is exactly what'll happen.

[@thesuccessfulbarber]

i would love to have a few beers / smoke with you and talk music. you know your stuff and have a great perspective, which I share with you.

[@jimdieselpepe4604]

Great historical overview. One rock pop band who sells out arenas worldwide but ignored throughout this piece is The Killers.

[@nodamnedyouth391]

There's A lot of great bands out there that have riffs and some new punk rock stuff , hard rock , metal , for example , Knuckle Puck , Of mice and men , Angels and Airwaves , some new foo fighter songs , there's A lot to choose from still but it is hard to find though , Deffinitly not too mainstream these days.

[@Nihilism2011]

Do we need rock music to come back? We have a huge catalogue of great rock music to keep us going - so maybe we don't. I'm always searching for interesting new music that is not generic autotuned rubbish. Strangely enough, there is some great music out there but it isn't promoted due to the fact that the bands are recording their own music and publishing it on the net themselves as the record companies aren't interested in them.

[@widyawidiie0624]

Love the works of all Rick mention here.

[@lopezb]

Always fascinating.

[@BluesLicks101]

All musical genres and the culture are suffering right now.

[@Galidorquest]

Exactly. Not only is Rock past its prime, but so is Hip Hop, Pop, Country and Smooth Jazz... The only popular music genres these days is corny hipster music, Dubstep/'EDM', echo-y lo-fi Soundcloud type music (like "Take Me To Church") and Trap/Mumble Rap...

[@aronvanalstine]

Nice save on Cinderella

[@joshuasenic8870]

Hey Rick. I'm new to your channel. Keep up the good content! Rock isn't dead, it is overlooked since the popularity of electronic music. Now that anyone can buy software to produce sounds like instruments, kids are interested in the easy road. Unfortunately, interest in playing instruments seems to be dwindling. I've been playing bass for over 25 years, and I believe rock can come back IF the new generation picks up guitars and takes the difficult path of learning the craft. Love from NC.

[@RetepOdaged]

Great break down!

[@Jamsville]

Just because something isn't being pushed in mainstream culture, that certainly doesn't mean it's dead!

[@lisar3777]

Rock music isn't dead. It's merely comatose. Prognosis not good.

[@Jamsville]

Lisa R There's a whole new music culture developing on KZbin/online. I don't think it's dead, quite the opposite, certain niches are getting way more exposure now.

[@MarioAtheonio]

Exactly. Is jazz dead? Also, who the fuck still listens to the radio?

[@Jamsville]

WhatWhere I never listen to the radio LOL, and I'm a jazz musician. Go figure.

[@MarioAtheonio]

There are some amazing jazz and rock bands out there right now. For example, Knower, Vulfpeck or Snarky Puppy for jazz; Death From Above, Pulled Apart by Horses, or Protomartyr for rock. All of these are very original, and not parts of a movement. But I think that may be a good thing.

[@oranges6165]

No one remembers Fuel SMH... They channel more emotion than pretty much any band

[@omarsalkamusic]

Love this channel

[@gitksanamo3854]

sad but true. >_< Great vid. Really digging your channel.

[@AgustinEnciso]

You should totally have a podcast on iTunes!!

[@Roboprogs]

Rick *LOVES* iTunes! Not :-)

[@DiegoSita]

Brazilian here. Imagine Dragons definitely can't play in an arena in Brazil haha. Unfortunately, only rappers, country folks (yep, we do have country music, look up Michel Telo on YT) and MC's can play in arenas down here.

[@cthulhumusicchannel6578]

I know I'm late but you sincerely have a valuable opinion on our rock world , Im improving as a industrial rock musician because of this channel 🤘😎🤘

[@gabrielagun2307]

I am interested in what do you think it would take for some new band to change it... what do you think are the elements that the band should have? What are the new factors they should introduce? Video on thy subject would be fantastic!